Sentimentality is a Bitch

Many car enthusiasts eventually have found themselves in a predicament similar to this: Let’s say you achieve that next level of car guy commitment one day. You finally get that car you love and vow never to get rid of it. You have convinced yourself that this one is THE one. You tell friends and family you’re going to be buried in it. Every rational person around you starts to classify you as mildly insane. Whether it may be a recent purchase of a dream car or years and years of a vehicle “getting under your skin,” this can eventually become a painful and dangerous road to go down.

Trust me, I’ve been there.

As a self-proclaimed minimalist, I generally dislike keeping unnecessary stuff in my life. I always seek to purchase the least amount of things of the highest possible quality to reduce my consumption as a consumer. If I can buy something that I get consistent, productive use out of that lasts my lifetime, I’m in. When something is no longer useful to me and takes up space, time, and resources, I like to move it on to someone else who may enjoy it.

However, when it comes to cars, I am a complete hypocrite.

For reference, I am a single, 20-year-old male college student with three cars registered in my name. Three. Three running and driving automobiles. That’s fucking insane. Though I drive well over 20,000 miles a year, I cover over 95% of those miles in my daily driver. Meaning I drive my other cars less than 1000 miles per year. Combined!

While a vast majority of the (largely) sane public would take one look at that and tell me to move on with my life, I would like to take a moment to explain myself. For some reason, unbeknownst to myself and my therapist, I attach many of my life’s milestones to whatever vehicle may have been around at that time. So when I think of that first day of school, family get-togethers, weddings, and funerals, I associate all those experiences with the car that brought us to and from all those important events.

This is the primary explanation of why I own the vehicles I do. My 1995 XJ6 was the vehicle my parents used to shuttle me around as a child, and I attribute most of my automotive hobby to that car. Therefore, I felt indebted to repurchase it to preserve that piece of my history. On the other hand, my 2002 Volvo V70 XC was the car that really got me into modifying and enjoying the car hobby in a hands-on way. I took my driver’s test in that car and drove it nearly everywhere. I kept it in as good of condition as possible, and with well over 220,000 miles on it, it’s still in pretty excellent shape if I do say so myself.

And therein lies the rub. For some reason, I couldn’t seem to let go of these cars because of all they meant to me. Until recently, that is.

I’ve begun to notice that many people I’ve met who hold on to their cars for these sentimental purposes are truly crippled by them. They own numerous vehicles they can’t ever seem to let go of. Though they may love and cherish them initially, over time, many of them fall into states of disrepair. With much of that time signaling the intent of “I’ll get it running again someday!” (which we all know will never happen). Eventually, what they own transforms into something that owns them. It’s a sad and vicious cycle. Witnessing this, I was deeply inspired to look at my small collection of automobiles and reassess my priorities.

Though I do love that old Jag, it really isn’t as great as I remember it to be, and it’s in such a derelict state that, while I would love to save it and turn it into my dream XJ, it just isn’t realistic for me at this time in my life. So, while I would certainly welcome another X300 XJ into my garage at some point, now really isn’t the time.

On the other hand, my wagon is a little too nice to justify getting rid of. In fact, every time I drive it I get compliments and offers to buy it at gas stations and on the street. Despite not getting to drive it as much anymore due to going to college out-of-state, I still enjoy driving it when I can, and I am fortunate to have the means to keep it in good shape. So I just don’t see any reason to get rid of it. It’s worth far more to me than what I could get for it, that’s for sure. In fact, I love it so much that I plan to continue modifying it to turn it into my dream station wagon.

Ultimately, this can all be boiled down to one key element: love. If you don’t love that car you’ve been keeping around anymore, or it’s no longer bringing you the joy it once did, It’s time to let it go. I still love my XC dearly, so in my garage, it shall stay.

With that said, any takers for a 1995 XJ6 at $1000?